PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins are the Stanley Cup Champs. The Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games. The Pens controlled if not dominated much of the play and if Shark’s goaltender Martin Jones did not stand on his head this series could have been over in four. Penguins rookie goaltender Matt Murray let in a couple of goals he may have wanted back but his steady, if not spectacular play, led the Penguins to the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup.
Pittsburg Penguins – Photo by Jack Lima
The Penguins proved to be the deeper team continually rolling four lines as the Sharks were reduced to a two-line team for most of the series. The Sharks tried the old method of physically battering the Pens but when the Sharks could catch the Penguins they weren’t intimidated. Pittsburgh also used their overwhelming speed to clear the puck out of their end stopping the Sharks forecheck before it got started.
Pittsburgh stars (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Phil Kessel) all had big offensive moments but they also had made all of the little plays you need to make to win a championship.
The Sharks stars (Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Brent Burns) try as they may couldn’t get much going against Pittsburgh’s no name defense.
Pittsburgh blocked almost everyone of Brent Burns’ shots not letting them get to the net or to Pavelski for one of his patented deflection goals. Logan Couture got his offense going along with the always clutch Joel Ward but few other Sharks did.
Tomas Hertl was drilled by Penguin defenseman Ben Lovejoy and lost to injury by the Sharks early in this series.
Mario Lemieux raises the Stanley Cup – Photo by Jack Lima
The Sharks were forced to shuffle their lines and the team rarely sustained pressure in the Pittsburgh zone. In contrast all four Pittsburgh lines spent a considerable amount of time in the San Jose zone. Crosby and Malkin’s lines produced numerous scoring chances every game. The Penguins’ fourth line did an admirable job against the Sharks’ first line and the Sharks had no answer for the Pens’ third (HBK) line. Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino made Pens GM Jim Rutherford look like a genius as he became the first GM in the modern era to win two Cups with two different teams.
This was supposed a pick-em series with a slight edge going to the Sharks. How was a Twenty-two-year old goalie (Murray) supposed to beat the number one offense (San Jose) in the playoffs. Pittsburgh’s defense was questioned. Letang and a bunch of nobodies. The Penguins played as a team. They played more desperate. The Sharks only produced two shot on goal in the third period of the final game. The Penguins had a pack mentality. They swarmed the puck in every zone.
For the first time in years, they didn’t rely on Crosby and Malkin to do everything for them. Kids like Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust scored big goals. Old vets gave up their bodies, whether it was Patric Hornqvist blocking a shot with his head or Chris Kunitz chasing down Joel Ward with his seemingly last breath.
The Stanley Cup – Photo by Jack Lima
The Penguins won Games One and Two at home. The Sharks big push back at their place never came. The Sharks Game Three homecoming resulted in barely squeaking out an overtime win. The Penguins then won Game Four in San Jose. The Pens were poised to win the Cup at home but were intimidated by their home fans showing up in droves outside Consul Energy Center. Pittsburgh’s fans accomplished something the Shark’s couldn’t.
Maybe that’s the most telling fact of the series was the Sharks were never able to rattle the Penguins. The once fragile Penguins just turned the other cheek. Penguins Captain Crosby set that tone by ignoring Thornton’s violence towards him. Crosby changed that tone in Game Six by slashing Thornton off the opening draw, sending his team a message and the Sharks golfing.
Images by Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com
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